Edition:

El Boot Room

It's becoming Costa Merseyside as Rafa Benitez fills his side with so many Latins that English will no longer be used exclusively on the training ground. It's a revolution that could lead to Scouse making way for Spanish.

For many Scousers, 'una cerveza, por favor' is enough knowledge of the Spanish language. Now, though, is the time for Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher to buy some phrasebooks. The Spanish influence at Anfield has just moved to a new level.

Liverpool's three signings from overseas this summer are all South Americans - an Argentine, a Chilean and a Spanish-speaking Brazilian (who learnt when playing in La Liga), with another to follow if manager Rafa Benitez has his way. It is a big risk given the level of underachievement by South Americans in the Premiership, but Benitez is willing to take it, largely because there will be no problem at Liverpool with the language barrier. Spanish will be spoken on the training ground to help the players settle.

South Americans have excelled elsewhere in Europe, most notably in Spain and Portugal, where they have been able to speak their native tongue. But in England the list of flops is a long one. It includes: Aston Villa's Juan Pablo Angel, Alberto Tarantini of Birmingham, Boro's Carlos Marinelli, Matias Vuoso of Manchester City, Manchester United's Diego Forlan, Juan Sebastian Veron, who failed at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge and Southampton's Agustin Delgado. Newcastle's impressive contribution to the list includes Christian Bassedas, Clarence Acuna, Daniel Cordone and Mirandinha.

Given the history, Liverpool's importing of the Argentine Gabriel Paletta, their first Brazilian, Fabio Aurelio, and the Chilean Mark Gonzalez, plus the determined pursuit of a fourth - the versatile Brazilian Daniel Alves - appears unusual and risky. Benitez, though, hopes to bury South American players' negative stereotype and carry on targeting that market.

When Benitez brought the Spanish-speaking trio of Paco Herrera, Jose Ochotorena and the recently departed Pako Ayesteran on to his coaching staff, it was clear that the old Liverpool 'boot room' legacy was being dismantled. Now he is doing it his own way on the training pitch and, in terms of using Spanish to comfort South Americans, he has Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia and Jose Reina for support.

Roy Evans, the last member from the legendary boot room days to manage the club (1994-98), sees the positive in what Benitez is trying to do but is wary. 'It's a worldwide game now and a world market,' says Evans. 'Argentina and Brazil are high in the standings of world football. With him [Benitez] speaking Spanish, they will integrate better than they would have done 10 years ago. You have to be ahead of the game. Look at what Arsenal have got out of Africa. Fantastic.

'I wouldn't like to see a non-Liverpool team, though. It is OK as long as there are some from Liverpool at the heart, like now with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Stephen Warnock. I'd like to see more Scousers. I wouldn't want to see things go the other way. I wouldn't like to see any club in the country losing its roots. We are an English club.'

Evans thinks it is not essential to pack the club with Spanish-speakers to help South Americans settle. 'Now the club provides teachers to make it easier for them to learn English,' he says. 'It is only the English who don't seem to learn other languages.'

The red part of Merseyside seems determined to prove Evans wrong. Demand for Spanish lessons has increased markedly in Liverpool, and French is no longer the most popular language in adult-education classes. The football club host an educational programme called

Reduc@te, which involves linking Liverpool's primary schools with schools in Barcelona to help them to learn Spanish. 'Interest has been growing,' says a Reduc@ate spokeswoman.

Whether South Americans continue to choose Anfield as a destination will depend on the success of the first batch. There are no guarantees. Arsene Wenger has described having South American players as 'dangerous', and that is an adjective that could be applied to Liverpool's new trio.

The three are an unknown quantity even to Gerrard, the Liverpool captain. 'I've seen bits and bobs of Aurelio and Mark Gonzalez but I don't know too much about them,' says Gerrard, adding that Benitez has reassured him. 'I'm looking forward to seeing how well they do and Rafa has told me he isn't finished in the transfer market, which is great news to hear.'

The advantage Benitez has is that he is a Spanish manager who knows the Spanish market, where there are lots of South American players. That is a point made by Michael Thomas, who famously scored the goal for Arsenal that denied Liverpool the title in May 1989 - and then played for Liverpool from December 1991 to August 1998, the closing chapter of the boot-room era when Liverpool's title drought started.

He thinks the fans need to show patience and faith in the Benitez revolution, akin to Arsenal's treatment of Wenger before his exploitation of the French and African markets paid dividends. 'Benitez is getting in what he is comfortable with,' says Thomas. 'The new players will do well. Like with the Arsenal guys, it might take them a year to settle, though. Look at Dennis Bergkamp. Look at Patrick Vieira. It took them time. People forget that.'

Thomas is surprised by the way Liverpool's culture has changed so rapidly since he left. 'It is great to be cosmopolitan,' says Thomas. 'I thought there would never be a foreign manager at Liverpool, though.'

One of Benitez's Spanish-speaking players, the goalkeeper Jose Reina, thinks Liverpool have chosen the right Spanish speaker to lead them: 'He's one of the most important managers. He's probably the best from Spain today and over the last few years. In Spain people say the same.'

But language has never been the sole problem for South American players. In South America, children grow up watching their own football and La Liga, noted for its slow tempo. Reina admits that it is a culture shock for Spaniards and Latin Americans when they arrive in England, and they have to adapt in terms of technique and pace.

'The physical game is very different,' says the goalkeeper, but he is confident Benitez's new recruits will cope. 'Mark Gonzalez and Fabio Aurelio are both fast players.'

Reina recalls his own induction to English football with a wince, though. 'It was against Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink,' he says. 'Believe me it wasn't too nice. Welcome to England! It was - how do you say? - with the studs. In my chest. I have to know whether to punch or catch so now I punch more than catch.'

There will be other problems to overcome. Liverpool's talisman Gerrard is a so-called box-to-box midfielder and that has long been a concept that South Americans are unfamiliar with when they are learning the game. Of course, there is the weather, too. But Benitez is unperturbed and continues searching South American club football and national youth sides.

At the moment, he is signing players he already knows and trusts - Aurelio won two Spanish titles under him at Valencia. Maybe, if Liverpool's South Americans settle nicely, the day will come when Premiership managers can trust them instantly. And a few more people will book Spanish lessons.

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